


Pierce Through

by HuntingPeople (ChaosAngel1111)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, M/M, Mentioned Elijah Kamski, and reed is an angery man, both red and blue, but secretly VERY soft, gavin reed dies, he's gavin's big bro, it's basically a groundhog day au, lots of blood, lots of death, over and over again, reed swears, the journey of rk900's deviation, this is very traumatizing for him and I'm not sorry, timeloop, we call him richard about halfway through
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-18 00:16:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18975151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosAngel1111/pseuds/HuntingPeople
Summary: "No, not again." RK900 used his free hand to press at the wounds in the human's chest, red coated his hand immediately. "Not again!"If Reed noticed the odd phrasing, he didn't let it show. Just gave his partner a lopsided smile, let his eyelids droop.RK900 blinked--Day 4-and he was waking up from stasis.





	Pierce Through

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT*20/06/19// HOLY HECKY, 200 KUDOS!! Thank you so much, I had no idea this fanfic was going to become my most popular DBH fic when I posted it! YA'LL ARE RAD, I hope you continue to enjoy reading this fic, and maybe you'll be happy to know I FINALLY fixed some fucky formatting that was going on lmao <33
> 
> -
> 
> WELL, this has been in production for a LONG time, but it's finally finished, another WIP removed from my WIP folder, are you proud of me? I really hope you like it, 'cause I'm so proud of this and it's probably my favourite DBH fic I've written so far ;u;
> 
> The ending 'epilogue' paragraphs are what were giving me trouble and preventing me from posting this, in the end I just decided to get rid of them, and I think the way the previous scene ended was a much better ending for the whole fic
> 
> Fun fact #1 - The working title for this on my laptop was 'Groundhog Day but it's Mystery Spot' and the title for the AO3 draft was 'Happy Death Day'
> 
> Fun fact #2 - The final title for the finished fic 'Pierce Through' is derived from the Supernatural quote 'Gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day'. Not only is that an amazing quote on itself, but also essentially what atcually happens
> 
> Now go fort!

**Day 1**

Waking up for an android was very unlike waking up for a human. As soon as an android left stasis, they were completely alert. There was no adjustment period, no getting used to the amount of light, no figuring out the time or date, or where they were.

There was nothing and then there was everything.

If RK900 was a deviant, he might have felt relief at that fact. Without that virus affecting him, he only understood that waking up instantly was convenient.

He did stay in place for a few moments upon waking though, taking note of the time and reviewing the day's objectives.

**[2039]**  
**[August 13th]**  
**[Saturday]**  
**[6:00 AM]**

**[Objectives]**

**[- Start shift at Detroit Central Police Station]**  
**[- Prepare coffee for Detective Gavin Reed]**  
**[- Await arrival of Detective Gavin Reed]**

The whole process took less than a second. RK900 was out of his apartment and getting into an automated taxi before his internal clock hit 6:01 AM.

-

He arrived at the Police Department by 6:30, was signed in by 6:31, had coffee made to his partner's specific tastes placed on his desk by 6:35.

Lieutenant Anderson and RK800 greeted RK900 politely when they noticed his presence, and he returned a clipped 'hello' before busying himself with work. He connected to his terminal to review the new cases that had been assigned during the night, and picked out one to present to his partner when he arrived.

The clock changed to 6:40.

No sign of Detective Reed.

**[6:45]**

**[6:50]**

Still no sign, but it didn't bother RK900. He couldn't feel bored or impatient, he sat at his desk, opposite Reed's, perfectly still, hands placed neatly in his lap.

**[6:55]**

**[7:00]**

**[7:05]**

**[7:10]**

Detective Reed finally arrived as RK900's clock ticked 7:13, storming into the bullpen and heading straight for his desk. He downed the lukewarm coffee in one go, slammed the paper cup down on his desk and then let all of his weight drop down into his desk chair.

A quick scan told RK900 that the detective was stressed about something. 

RK800's lessons on social protocol told him he should ask the detective what was wrong and try to provide comfort.

Detective Reed told him to ' _shut the fuck up_ ' before he could formulate the proper wording for his question.

"Just tell me what we got." Reed continued, voice muffled where he'd buried his face in his hands.

"Of course, Detective Reed." RK900 said, unable to ignore a direct order. He emailed his partner the case file he'd chosen for them to work on and patiently waited for Detective Reed to view it.

Reed checked the email on his phone, instead of booting up his terminal, took a few minutes to read through it. He sighed when he finished, looking up at his android partner with annoyance clearly written on his face. "Really? Is this some kind of joke, tincan? Did you forget that we're homicide? We don't do break-ins, dipshit."

The insults and the irritation directed RK900's way had no affect on him, "I believe this ties in with another open investigation of ours."

"You want to elaborate on which one or is that all you have to say?"

RK900 blinked, out of the corner of his eye he could see RK800 watching their interaction with a yellow LED, "The murder we investigated yesterday. I believe it was a simple robbery gone wrong, this one looks similar without the 'gone wrong' aspect."

"Right." Gavin snorted, "Sure, whatever, let's get this over with."

-

Detective Reed drove them to the address in the email, weaving in out of traffic almost recklessly, using sirens even when unnecessary. RK900 might have panicked if he had the ability to do so. He'd almost reported Reed when they were first partnered up, but after gathering more information he'd decided not to. The man's driving wasn't as bad as it could be, he'd never gotten into an accident, or caused one, and RK900 could appreciate the efficiency.

They'd only planned to check out the property, not realizing the owner would be home, but not only was she home, but also wide awake at 7:34 AM. She'd opened the door as soon as they pulled up and invited them both inside.

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm detective Gavin Reed, this is my partner, RK900, may we ask you some questions about a break-in you reported?" Reed introduced as they climbed the steps to the front door.

"Of course, of course, come in!" She smiled, ushering them in. "Would you like some tea, Gavin? Or coffee maybe?"

"Coffee would be great, thank you." Gavin smiled back, taking a seat on the flower-printed couch. His knee started bouncing instantly, his fingers drumming on the arm.

Despite how crude detective Reed was with his coworkers, he was always so gentle with witnesses and victims. Even when he was clearly distressed like today, it made RK900's LED flicker yellow as he tried to figure out how Reed managed it.

The elderly woman they were there to see returned to the living room quickly, carrying a tray.

She placed it down on the coffee table and took her own cup as she sat opposite the pair, "There you go, dear, help yourself to as much sugar as you like."

As Reed prepared his drink, she turned her attention to the android, "You said your name was RK900? Have you not picked out a name for yourself yet?"

"He's not a deviant yet unfortunately," Gavin cut in, "We're doing all we can to help him though, miss Fields."

"Oh, you poor thing, that must be horrible! You remind me so much of my late husband, Richard, I think that name would suit you perfectly, dear."

"Thank you, miss Fields."

"Oh, none of that now! Please call me Helena." Helena said taking a sip of her tea, "You said you were here to ask me about the break-in?"

"Yes." Detective Reed confirmed, "What can you tell us about last night?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." She frowned, "I wasn't here when it happened, I only came home to find several of my things out of place. Nothing was actually stolen as far as I can tell."

Reed had his notepad in his hands, but he wasn't writing, he knew that RK900 would be recording the entire interview.

"Do you have anything that someone might want? Valuable jewellery maybe?" RK900 continued on, studying her carefully to make sure nothing slipped by him, just in case she wasn't telling the truth.

"No, nothing like that. I only have cheap things, was never all that interested in anything too flashy, even if I did have the money for it."

The pair continued their questioning until 8:46 AM, making sure they covered every angle, repeating certain questions to maybe try and catch Helen out on a lie. Her story checked out completely, everything was fine, and she convinced them to stay and chat for a while.

They finally left Helena's home at 9:22 AM, when Reed softly insisted that they really should be getting back to the station.

-

Detective Reed stopped for breakfast on their way back to the station, claiming he never had time before leaving his apartment, bitterness in his voice. RK900's programming nudged him to ask about his mood again, telling him his relationship with his partner would suffer if he let this go ignored.

RK900 didn't get a chance to ask, because Reed was already heading back to his car, yelling out for the android when he stayed in place just a moment too long.

-

"Do the report for me." Gavin ordered, leaning back in chair, kicking his legs up onto his desk.

"Yes, detective-"

"Don't." RK800 interrupted, marching over to the pair. "RK900 you don't have to do what he says, and you, Gavin-" He turned to the human with a fire in his eyes, "-you should know better than to be ordering him around! Do I have to report you to Fowler for taking advantage of a non-deviant android?"

"Don't you dare threaten me, plastic prick." Reed growled lowly, taking his feet down so he could sit up straight, "I'm not taking advantage of anyone. You want to do this for me, don't you, RK900?"

RK900's LED was cycling a solid yellow, his processors struggling with the conflicting orders, "I don't want anything." He managed to grit out. "However, writing Detective Reed's report for him would not be a problem for me. We have nothing to do right now, I would only be sitting idle, which I was not designed to do for long periods of time."

RK800's own LED flickered between blue and yellow as he thought about what RK900 said, before finally settling on blue. "As long as you're really OK with it, RK900." He shot one last venomous look at Detective Reed as he turned to leave, "And if I catch you doing this again I will not hesitate to report your behaviour."

Reed waited for Connor to completely turn his back before lifting his middle finger in his direction. He resumed his previous position of leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk and his phone in his hand.

If RK900 wasn't wrong - and he was rarely wrong - the look that flashed across the detective's face just then was one of disappointment.

-

The pair remained silent for the following few hours until Detective Reed announced he was going on his lunch break at 12:00 on the dot. He shrugged his leather jacket on and left without taking RK900 with him.

Odd, because he usually did, using the time to discuss cases with the android, saying that a change of setting was good for the brain and helped him think.

It didn't bother RK900, it couldn't.

Detective Reed came back at 13:07, looking more haggard than when he'd left. He said nothing to his partner, just hunched over his desk and booted up his terminal.

-

More silence between the pair, Reed seemingly deciding that he was going to ignore RK900 for the rest of the day. The android only heard him speak him when he was answering phone calls.

Until 15:11 when a call elicited more of a reaction out of the detective than the casual boredom, he'd been showing before. 

"Shit, you're serious?"

RK900 wasn't listening in on the call, had stopped doing that soon after they met after detective Reed had screamed at him about respect and privacy. But his curious nature demanded to know what was happening.

"Shit! Fuck! OK- got it, OK, right- yeah." The human hung up the call, and shoved the phone into his pocket, letting out a string of curses as he did so.

"Detective?" RK900 asked calmly.

"Lucky fucking break, tincan, get ready!" Reed answered, checking his gun. "The suspect for our break-in gone wrong was just spotted."

-

The drive should've taken almost an hour, for how far the warehouse was, but detective Reed got them there by 15:29.

They exited the vehicle, guns drawn, RK900 taking the lead, Reed close behind.

RK900 scanned the area meticulously, on the lookout for anything that could even slightly pose a threat. Nothing is what he found, the warehouse suspiciously quiet for the time of day and area it was in. He found evidence of people being there recently, just no actual people.

"Fucking waste." Gavin grunted, lashing out with his foot at the closest cardboard box.

"They must have left before we arrived." RK900 muttered, LED a bright yellow as he analyzed what he'd found, "Perhaps we should stay, see if anyone comes back."

"Read my fucking mind."

-

So that's what they did. They moved the car to a more inconspicuous place that still gave them a good view and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

RK900 found himself growing restless, and it must have shown somehow because detective Reed was soon snapping at him.

"Jesus Christ, will you stop that! It's hard to concentrate with you wriggling all over the place like that."

"Apologies, detective." RK900 said, "I was designed to be active at all times, long periods of nothing make my programs seek out something for me to do."

"Waiting for a perp to show up isn't active enough for you so you're bored?"

"I suppose that would be the human equivelant, yes."

Detective Reed snorted, and started rummaging around in his pockets. "Here." He said, tossing a coin at his partner, "Why don't you do those 'calibration tests' Connor is so fond of?"

RK900 let the coin roll over his knuckles, tossed it in the air, caught it with his other hand. "Thank you, detective."

"Whatever, you gonna be able to focus on catching the bad guys now?"

RK900 nodded silently, spinning the coin on a finger.

Reed snorted again, watched RK900 for a second, before turning his attention back to the warehouse. He only got a couple minutes of peace from the android's new distraction before he spotted someone entering the warehouse through a side door at 19:57.

In what little light there was, the detective could see that the guy matched the sketch of their killer.

"That's our guy."

RK900 didn't need to be told twice, the coin was tucked into a pocket and his gun replaced it. He lead the way again, and they entered through the same door their suspect had used.

They followed him closely, quietly, until they were in the centre of the warehouse. A mostly wide open space with a few shipping containers and stacks of cardboard boxes.

"Stay put." Reed whispered, "Watch my back. Don't move unless I'm actually in trouble, got it? Want them to think I'm alone."

Yellow.

"Detective, that isn't-"

"Now is not the time for arguing, dipshit." The human hissed softly. "Stay. Put."

RK900 nodded, crouching behind a stack of boxes, making sure he had a clear view of their suspect.

"Detroit PD, hands in the air!" Reed shouted, moving quickly, gun trained on the other guy in the room.

The man froze when he was spotted and then all hell broke loose. 

Gunshots rang out from somewhere to the detective's left, sending up sprays of concrete where they hit the ground at his feet. Their suspect ran as detective Reed headed for cover, firing his gun in the general direction of where the shots came from.

RK900 analyzed the situation, calculating actions he could take, the consequences, possible moves the detective would decide on. 

More gunshots.

Reed cursing, firing back.

The android couldn't move, his partner's order a red wall trapping him in place. The detective wasn't in trouble right now, he was hiding behind a shipping container.

Safe.

At least he thought so.

He heard yet more gunfire and then a pained cry, the sound of hurried footsteps getting fainter and fainter.

**[Objective - Stay put]**

**[Objective - Check on detective Gavin Reed]**

He darted up from his hiding place and dashed to the location his scans had indicated.

RK900 was greeted with the sight of his partner lying in a pool of his own blood.

So much red.

Detective Reed had two bullets in his chest, one in his stomach and a faint heartbeat.

The android called for an ambulance as he crouched at his partner's side.

There was no stopping the blood, or even slowing it down, Reed would be dead before paramedics arrived.

RK900's LED flashed red for the first time since his activation.

Connor hadn't taught him how to comfort a dying man.

"Don't just stare..." Reed spoke faintly, looking up at the android with unfocused eyes.

"Apologies." RK900 said as softly as he could, taking hold of the man's hand. That was something people did, he knew that.

"Your light is red..."

"I didn't realize this would be quite so distressing."

Reed coughed and wheezed, too red blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. RK900 thought he might have been trying to laugh.

"Y-you're doing great...tincan..."

RK900 wasn't a deviant, this situation didn't stir any feelings within him, but something screamed _wrong_ at him. His partner shouldn't have gotten hurt, he was supposed to be safe. 

Gavin Reed died at 20:11, on a cold concrete floor, soaked in his own blood, because RK900 had made a miscalculation that should have been impossible.

He squeezed his partner's hand, a last act of reassurance, more for himself than the man who couldn't feel it.

The android blinked and then-

-

**Day 2**

-he was waking up from stasis.

**[Software instability^]**

RK900 blinked again.

That was...odd.

He looked around.

He was in his empty apartment, stood in the corner he usually used for entering stasis.

Nothing out of place. Nothing to indicate this wasn't right.

A scan of his systems came back negitive for errors or irregularities.

RK900 must have ran a precontruction during stasis somehow, but there was nothing to indicate a preconstruction scenario had been played out. The program hadn't even been touched since the week previous.

He shrugged it off.

If there was nothing wrong, there was no use wasting processing power trying to figure it out.

He stood in place for a moment as he reviewed the day's objectives.

**[2039]**  
**[August 13th]**  
**[Saturday]**  
**[6:00 AM]**

**[Objectives]**

**[- Start shift at Detroit Central Police Station]**  
**[- Prepare coffee for Detective Gavin Reed]**  
**[- Await arrival of Detective Gavin Reed]**

The whole process took less than a second. RK900 was out of his apartment and getting into an automated taxi before his internal clock hit 6:02 AM.

-

He arrived at the Police Department by 6:31, was signed in by 6:32. He paused when he entered the bullpen, usually he would go straight to the break room, use the ancient machine to prepare a cup of coffee for his partner.

Instead RK900 decided to test the preconstruction. He headed straight for his desk instead, returned Lieutenant Anderson and RK800's polite greeting as he passed, and started work.

When he connected to his terminal, he spotted the exact same cases as the one from his preconstruction. That... tripped up his processors slightly.

RK900 was the most advanced android created by Cyberlife before the revolution, but even his preconstruction software wasn't 100% accurate 100% of the tme. There was no way he could have predicted exactly what cases he'd see when interfacing with his terminal, the exact names of those involved, the areas they took place in.

He tried to ignore it, get on with his work. 

A fresh cup of coffee was placed on Detective Reed's desk at 7:10, and just like RK900's preconstruction, the human stormed into the bullpen at 7:13.

He made a b-line for his desk, grabbed the cup and took a gulp of the scorching hot liquid. He spluttered when he burnt his lip, dropping the cup, spilling hot coffee everywhere.

That was the first thing to happen that was truly different from his preconstruction.

"What the fuck!" Reed hissed, jumping away from the steaming puddle.

He proceeded to yell swear words at his partner, until Captain Fowler opened his office door to personally tell Reed to quiet down, though not with that exact phrasing.

RK900 knew that Reed was in a foul mood before the incident, but now he was sure that the detective was one small nudge away from actual murder. He stayed silent, emailed his partner the case he'd chosen, the same break-in case from before.

The detective pinched the bridge of his nose as he checked the email on his phone. 

"I believe this ties in with another open investigation of ours." RK900 spoke as calmly as possible, "The murder we investigated yesterday. I believe it was a simple robbery gone wrong, this one looks similar without the 'gone wrong' aspect."

Detective Reed took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "Whatever, let's get this over with."

-

The interview with Helena went mostly the same way, except Reed was a little more short with his sentences, not as open to carrying a conversation, but still so polite. They didn't stick around after the interview, leaving at 8:33 AM.

Reed stopped on the way back to the precinct for his breakfast burrito and didn't utter a single word to his partner the entire time.

When they entered the bullpen together, RK900 offered to fill out the paperwork for them both, deciding that the argument between Reed and RK800 was not a scenario that needed to be repeated. Detective Reed was polite enough to offer a quiet thanks, but other than that he remained silent, same as before, until he took his lunch break.

He shrugged on his jacket, paused, glanced over at RK900, opened his mouth, closed it again.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Reed was jerking his head in the direction of the exit, indicating for RK900 to follow him.

-

Detective Reed drove them to the same food truck he'd bought his breakfast at, remaining silent until they'd found a table to sit at. He took a few bites of burger, chewed, swallowed.

To RK900, he looked incredibly nervous, which was very out of character for the man and might have worried the android if he could feel worry.

Reed was interrupted by the ringing of his phone before he could open his mouth to speak. He excused himself and wandered over to the other side of the seating area to take his call in private.

It wasn't far enough away to get him out of RK900's hearing range, but the android did his best to block out his partner's voice.

Only five minutes passed before detective Reed was stomping back over to the table, he slammed his phone down, managing not to break it, despite the force. He didn't give RK900 a chance to ask what was wrong, hitting RK900 with an angry tirade, "Have you even tried to become a deviant at all since you were activated? Fuck, I know you have a lot of shit in place to prevent it, but it's been _months_ now. Are you just ignoring everyone's help, you selfish prick? Think you're better than all those deviants with their choices and their empathy, huh?"

RK900 blinked at the detecive, LED flashing yellow as he processed his words, and then he uttered softly, "I'm not sure I know how."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Reed snapped, RK900's statement apparently having angered him more, "Just say no! Resist! Don't go along with what people tell you, fight it, think for yourself! Do what _you_ want, not what _everyone else_ wants!"

**[Software instability^]**

"Detective, we're in public, you should calm down."

" _Fuck you._ "

-

RK900 had no idea what he'd done to deserve detective Reed's wrath, and his LED spent the rest of the afternoon flickering between blue and yellow as he tried to figure it out. He didn't even register his partner calling his name until it was yelled directly into his ear.

"Get a move on, dipshit!" The detective growled, tugging on RK900's jacket.

"Apologies, detective." RK900 muttered, hurrying to follow the shorter human.

The android had never been so distracted before, it was... concerning, to think he could be so caught up on an irrelevent point that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings.

-

They searched the warehouse where the criminal had been spotted, but they found nothing, just like RK900's preconstruction had predicted. So they headed back to the car to wait.

"Do you have a coin I can borrow?" RK900 asked softly, turning his attention towards his partner.

Detective Reed gave him a sceptical look, "The fuck you need a coin for?"

"I was designed to be active at all times, long periods of nothing make my programs seek out something for me to do." RK900 quoted, and then added on, "I wish to remain focused on the task at hand, without potentially distracting you."

Reed squinted at him, but started rummaging around in his pockets. "Will this do?" He asked, holding up a quarter.

"That's perfect, thank you, detective."

He caught the coin easily when it was flicked at him, and began performing calibration tests while his eyes remained fixed on the door he knew their suspect would be using approximately two hours from then.

-

When the guy finally showed up, RK900 spotted him immediately. He notified his partner and they set off, following behind as quickly and as quietly as they could, RK900 in the lead again. They reached the middle area with the containers and boxes and RK900 didn't give the detective a chance to order him around. He stepped out into the space, gun trained on their perp.

"Detroit PD!"

The guy heard him, froze up.

The shooting would start any second now.

Everything would be fine as long as Detective Reed stayed hidden and let RK900 deal with this.

Their suspect ran and a bullet clipped RK900's shoulder, sending out a spray of blue, followed closely by a second bullet, this one missing him, but just barely. 

RK900 followed the trajectory, and noticed the tip of a boot sticking out from behind a shipping container. He moved quickly, before more shots could be fired, he wasn't going to let his partner get hurt this time.

Both of the hiding men were incapacitated with a shot to the head before they could even register the android's presence in front of them.

He noticed the third guy too late.

He fired his gun but each shot missed.

Detective Reed's pained shout filled the air.

"Detective!" RK900 called out, rushing to the stack of boxes his partner had been hiding behind.

The android was greeted with the same sight as the one from his preconstruction. 

Reed on the floor, bleeding from three bullet wounds, two in his chest, one in his stomach.

"You b-bastard..." Reed coughed, as RK900 knelt beside him, "Why the _fuck_... did you run out like that? Fucking... idiot...!"

RK900 stayed silent, focusing his attention on a red spot, trying to figure out if it was blood or just the glow from his LED. The human wouldn't make it. The ambulance would take fifteen minutes, Reed would only last five even with RK900's best efforts.

"Well...?" Reed demanded, lifting a shaky hand to punch weakly at the android's chest.

"I'm sorry, detective, I shouldn't have- I'm sorry."

The hand slipped from his chest and Reed's knuckles hit the floor with a crack that made the android flinch.

Gavin Reed died at 20:11, on a cold concrete floor, soaked in his own blood, because RK900 had failed him again.

He blinked and then-

-

**[Day 3]**

-he was waking up from stasis.

He blinked again.

This was his apartment, devoid of any furniture or knick knacks, or anything that would make it look like someone actually lived there really. 

He looked down at himself, no blood, blue or red. No tear in his jacket, no crack in his shoulder.

**[2039]**  
**[August 13th]**  
**[Saturday]**  
**[6:00 AM]**

**[Objectives]**

**[- Start shift at Detroit Central Police Station]**  
**[- Prepare coffee for Detective Gavin Reed]**  
**[- Await arrival of Detective Gavin Reed]**

**[Software instability^]**

RK900 performed a full system scan, checking every single program, every piece of software, every file, every biocomponant. Everything was fully fuctional, no errors or glitches or irregularities made themselves known.

He scanned a second time, and a third, just to be sure.

No worrying results came back.

"Impossible." He whispered to the empty room.

Was it possible? To open up his preconstruction software and run a preconstruction scenario while in stasis and not leave a trace? _Twice_.

It had to be some sort of glitch, and if anyone would know it'd be his prototype. 

He had to speak RK800.

He left his apartment at 6:10 AM.

-

The ride to the station was uneventful, just like the previous two times he'd lived through this day. He arrived later than usual, due to the morning's events, but it didn't matter.

RK900 entered the bullpen, LED rapidly spinning as he sought out his predecessor. Found him settling in with Lieutenant Anderson at their desks.

"RK800." He spoke quickly, "I need to speak with you."

RK800 frowned up at the taller android as he approached, clearly worried, "Is everything alright?"

"I-"

Red.

"No, I don't think it is."

"I'll be just a moment, Hank." RK800 said quietly as he wrapped an arm around RK900, leading him to an empty interrogation room to speak in private.

RK900 took a seat at the table, something in him telling him to do it, though he knew it was unnecessary.

"What's wrong, RK900?" RK800 asked softly, moving the other chair so he could sit in front of his successor without the table between them. He placed a comforting hand on the other android's knee.

"I'm not sure, it's-" RK900 paused, thought about it for a second, and then held a white hand out to RK800.

He took it silently and RK900 began searching through his own memories, looking for the ones of the previous two versions of that day.

But there was nothing.

**[Software instability^]**

He could remember Gavin Reed dying, crystal clear, could recall every last breath he took, count every blood splatter. 

But there was _nothing_.

**[Software instability^]**

No files in his memory containing those moments, no physical copy of either version. 

RK900 _remembered_ but there was nothing to show for it.

"RK900?"

"I'm sorry, I- I don't know what's wrong-"

**[Software instability^]**

He abruptly broke the connection, knocking the chair over as he scrambled away. 

RK800 let out a static cry of surprise, held his wrist as if he'd been burned as his own LED flickered between red and yellow. "What was that? What were you trying to show me?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, I'm sorry for taking you away from your work."

RK900's stress levels rose steadily, he needed to calm down quickly, before he did anything.

"Perhaps you should take the day off-"

"I'm fine!" He snapped, LED pulsing a deep red before fading back to yellow.

-

Detective Reed's attitude went ignored for the rest of the day, RK900 spending as much time as he could focusing on his plan. He knew where all the men were hiding now, he just had to get to them before they got to his partner.

Kill them before they killed.

-

The suspect they'd originally been following wasn't a threat, he fled as soon as danger presented itself, so RK900 had no need to concern himself with him. He knocked the man out before he could even enter the warehouse, hurried ahead before Reed had a chance to catch up.

Bullets flew, containers were hit, boxes were shredded, blue blood was spilled.

It didn't stop RK900.

He shot the first two men point blank, same as the day before, then whirled around, didn't miss the third guy this time.

"Detective?" He called out, the human nowhere in sight. "Detective?"

"RK-!"

The interrupted shout had him moving again, following the sound as fast as his feet could move.

RK900 hadn't dealt with their perp properly, he'd woken quickly and now he was wrestling with the detective, trying to reach the gun on the floor, just a few feet away.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as he watched the scene unfold. 

A hard shove sent Reed to the floor, gasping for air. 

The other guy grabbed the gun, aimed at the man on the floor.

Fired three times, hit Reed twice in the chest and once in the stomach.

"No!"

**[Software instability^]**

The gun clattered to the floor and they were left alone.

RK900 knelt beside the dying detective for a third time, though it felt more like he was collapsing as he hit the ground with a thud. He wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders, maneuvered him as gently as possibe to lean against his chest, not caring about the deep red blood staining his white jacket. He wasn't a deviant after all.

"Detective, I- the paramedics are coming, just hold on, just for a little while."

"Idiot..." Detective Reed sighed, "I'm not gonna... n-not gonna make it..."

"No, not again." RK900 used his free hand to press at the wounds in the human's chest, red coated his hand immediately. "Not again!"

If Reed noticed the odd phrasing, he didn't let it show. Just gave his partner a lopsided smile, let his eyelids droop.

RK900 blinked-

-

**Day 4**

-and he was waking up from stasis.

Free of blood, free of thirium.

"No!" He roared into the empty white room, not registering the movement of his fist until his systems were notifying him of the whole punched into the wall.

RK900 was breathing harshly, his internal fans trying desperately to cool his body down before stress caused him to overheat. He had to close his eyes, something about the empty room was starting to bother him, spiking his stress levels in a way it never had before.

He headed towards the door on shaky legs, barely remembered to lock it after he left, almost tripped down the stairs as he tried to get out. The warm August air didn't do much to calm him, but it was far better than his empty apartment. The small space that was barely an apartment, just a small box made specifically with androids in mind.

The sound of passing vehicles did more to ground RK900, help him focus. He took a seat on the bench just outside of his apartment block, the one Detective Reed liked to sit on, on the rare occassions he drove the android to work.

He connected to the internet, began making searches for missing memories in androids, running programs without consciously making the decision to. There were several thousand results, which he checked through in no time at all, but though some seemed similar, nothing seemed exactly like his situation.

A search for repeating days brought up several movies, games, TV shows, books, all centred around the idea of time loops. Of characters stuck repeating a certain moment in time over and over again.

That was promising.

So he continued his research, gathering anything and everything he could on time loops. How they occured and how to break them, _why_ they occured. 

He devised a list of things he could try to break out of it. 

Detective Reed dying seemed to be the main reason for the time loop. In all three versions of August 13th so far, he'd been murdered, in the same way at the same time. RK900 had awoken from stasis soon after, none of the choices he'd made had changed that.

If he could just _find_ a way to change that, find a way to protect the detective for those final four hours of the day, maybe he could stop this.

A message appeared in his HUD, but he flicked it away. 

It wasn't relevent, it could wait.

Another appeared just seconds later, and RK900's eyebrow twitched. He was _busy_ , he didn't have time to respond to messages.

More popped up.

He ignored them all, flicking each away as it appeared so he could focus on his research.

"Answer your fucking messages, you glorified toaster!"

The sudden shout made him jerk in surprise. He lifted his head to find his very irritated partner standing in front of him, hands on his hips.

"Well? You gonna fucking explain yourself? Connor was worried sick, wouldn't stop harrassing me to come check on you."

**[2039]**  
**[August 13th]**  
**[Saturday]**  
**[08:24 AM]**

Oh.

RK900 had been sitting on the bench for a lot longer than he thought. He checked through the messages rapidly, most of them from a very worried RK800, asking him where he was, why he hadn't called in if he was going to be late, if he was OK. The last few were mostly strings of curses sent by detective Reed.

"Apologies, I didn't mean to worry anyone I was just- I appear to have gotten lost in thought."

"Well don't fucking do that again." Reed hissed, punching the android's shoulder, doing a good job of hiding the wince it caused, "Come on, you actually have a job to do, in case you forgot."

RK900 nodded and climbed into the passenger seat of his partner's car. "Where are we going?"

"Got a case." The detective sighed, it looked like he was trying to let go of his annoyance. "It's just a break-in, but I think it ties in with that murder we investigated yesterday? You know how you said it might have just gone wrong? Aside from the murder aspect, everything is exactly the same. No sign of forced entry, home owner wasn't there, or wasn't supposed to be at least, nothing taken, but things moved..."

The detective continued on describing the similarities, the differences, listing off theories.

RK900 wasn't listening, he was frozen in place.

The android hadn't gone to the precinct that morning, hadn't looked through files and picked out that case for them to work on, hadn't made those connections himself.

Detective Reed had done that all on his own, without help.

That fact was quickly added to the file he'd created about this time loop.

"Hey, are you even listening? Jesus Christ, you're not usually like this, not glitching out are you? Because you're not taking the day off if you are, I want to investigate this shit and I can't do it alone."

RK900 might have smiled, if he could. In his eight months of working with the detective, he'd come to learn the man's roundabout way of showing emotions. He was concerned more than he let on, and maybe he had a reason to be, but RK900 could hide things just as well.

"I'm fine, detective, I shouldn't be a hindrance to the investigation."

"Good."

-

They interviewed Helena quickly, Reed taking the lead and asking all the questions, then politely declining when she invited them to stay a little longer, have more drinks. They were out of the door by 8:45.

-

RK800 was on him as soon as RK900 entered the station, demanding answers.

"I'm alright, thank you for your concern. I'm just feeling a little... slow today, that's all."

It didn't placate the android at all, "If you don't feel well, you should take the day off. It won't do your systems any good to push them if they're already under stress."

"He's _fine_ , tincan, didn't you hear him?" Reed growled, shoving himself between the two androids.

Somehow, that made RK900's stress levels rise from 60% up to 72%. His jaw clenched. Whatever was happening to him was effecting him in ways he didn't like- no, in ways that impacted his effectiveness. It had to just be the fact that he couldn't accomplish his tasks properly that was effecting his stress levels. The increasing odds of a fight breaking out between detective Reed and RK800 was worsening that.

Without thinking, he grabbed the hood of Reed's jacket and tugged him over to his desk, shoved him into the seat. "Starting a fight isn't productive, detective. Get to work."

Reed looked like he wanted to argue, but a cold glare from the android had him doing as he was told, albeit reluctantly.

RK800 left them in peace, but he watched them as often as he could.

-

When 12:00 rolled around, Reed shrugged on his jacket and attempted several times to get his partner's attention, eventually succeeding on the fifth try. 

RK900 could tell he was irritated but he didn't say anything until they reached the food truck. He took a few bites of food first, before letting out a deep sigh and levelling RK900 with a look, "Are you sure you're alright? Because you can't keep spacing out like that, you're gonna get me fucking killed or something."

The android's joints locked up. His stress climbed all the way 89%. Snippets of thoughts swirled around his computerized brain and he could barely make sense of them. He'd been thinking of ways to keep the detective safe and in doing so he was only endangering him further. The red glow he could see in the reflection of the shiny table reminded of blood that shouldn't have been spilled.

He jerked away from the table, squeezed his eyes tight.

"I'm sorry, detective, I'll do better. I-I won't let you get hurt, I can keep you s-safe. Please, just trust me-"

Detective Reed jumped up from his seat and calmly placed his hands on his partner's shoulders, "Whoa, buddy, slow down there. I do trust you, OK? You're my partner. But if you're really not alright, you have to say so. You can't just act like everything's fine, because then you're making our job more dangerous than it already is. You understand?"

RK900 nodded without opening his eyes. He did understand, but he was _fine_. He just had to focus on Reed for the rest of the day, and try not to let his objective of keeping him safe distract him from the actual human.

"I'm OK, I won't get distracted again." 

"Good. That's good." A ringtone cut through the quiet air and Reed let out a muffled curse, "Can I leave you for two minutes or are you going to self destruct?"

"I won't self destruct, detective."

He did make a note of that idea though.

Reed returned a little over two minutes later, but RK900 didn't mention it. He was angry, just like the previous time they'd had lunch together on this day. He slammed his phone down and then clenched his fists, avoided RK900's eyes as he gritted his teeth.

"Would you like to talk about it...?" RK900 asked softly.

Reed looked like he was about to punch him, but he crossed his arms at the last second, "Just my brother being a selfish prick, it's nothing."

RK900 blinked. That was new information. "I wasn't aware you had a sibling."

"No one is, so don't fucking tell anyone, got it? Now come on, I'm not hungry anymore."

-

RK900 payed closer attention for the rest of the day, and when the expected phone call finally came about, RK900 was out of his seat without Reed needing to tell him. 

He only pretended to search the warehouse, already knowing they'd find nothing, and suggested they wait for potential suspects a little earlier than usual. Reed agreed without arguing.

Back in the car, hidden in an inconspicuous spot that still gave them a good view, the detective handed over a coin without even being asked, "Connor always says it helps him to 'calibrate', like stay focused and shit. I don't know how long we're gonna be sat here, but you gotta stay sharp. Use that and don't fucking miss anything important."

"Thank you, detective."

"Don't mention it." Reed grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets as he leaned back in his seat, eyes trained on the warehouse.

Their suspect arrived at the usual time of 19:57. 

RK900 shot him immediately and ignored his partner's protests. He moved through the warehouse quickly, took out the two men hiding behind the container, then spun and took out the third guy.

He stood in place for a few moments, and when nothing else happened, he let himself relax, but not too much. RK900 wasn't going to let his guard down and let Reed get hurt, just when he thought they were safe.

Reed let out a surprised laugh, "Jesus fucking Christ, RK, I've never seen you move like that!"

RK900 furrowed his brows at that, "This isn't a laughing matter, detective. I've already called this in, we should wait outside."

"Fuck that, I ain't staying here any longer." Reed had already turned to go, cutting off any argument that RK900 had.

"That is incredibly irresponsible, we should wait." RK900 said firmly, once they reached the car.

Reed started the car and began driving back to the precinct, "Hell no, I'm tired. I'm going home and I'm going to bed and I'll write up a report in the morning." 

"Detective Reed, I will-"

He was cut off by something slamming into the side of the car. They were sent flying, rolling over several times. The air was filled with the sound of crunching glass and screeching metal. RK900 registered heat and the smell of gas.

It took some moments for his internal gyroscope to settle, and when it did he realized they'd landed rightside up. He looked down at his lap, saw blood, both red and blue. His thirium pump stuttered and his stress spiked.

He struggled to turn his head, to get a look at his partner. He might've gasped if he had the ability.

Reed's legs had been crushed by the impact, and a large gash sretched across his forehead. Despite all the blood loss, he was still breathing.

"Detective!" RK900 called urgently, desperately fumbling with his seatbelt, "Detective, can you hear me?"

A groan came from the human, followed by a wet, pained gasp, " _Hurts_..." He managed to choke out.

RK900 ignored his own injuries, his damaged eye and glitching HUD, grabbed a hold of his partner's hand, "Yes, I imagine it does, but you'll get through this. Just keep breathing, keep your eyes open for me."

Reed's head dropped to his chest, his eyelids fluttering and RK900 patted his cheek, "Stay _awake_ , detective, just like that, there you go. Paramedics are coming, just hold tight."

"'M s'ry..." Reed slurred.

Then his chest fell still and RK900 could no longer hear his rattling breaths.

"Gavin!" He cried, "Gav-"

-

**Day 5**

"-in!"

He'd only squeezed his eyes shut for a second, couldn't bear to see his partner in so much pain, and now he was back in his apartment again.

Surrounded by pristine white. Not a single thing out of place. No blood on him. No rips in his jacket. No cracks or dents in his chassis.

He was clean and whole and _alive_.

He was shaking as his stress levels gradually climbed. 

He felt... helpless. 

**[Software instability^]**

It seemed nothing he could do would break the cycle. He'd taken out all four guys that had killed the detective in previous loops, and it seemed that would be the end.

And then a _car crash_ had been what killed him.

It _angered_ him.

**[Software instability^]**

Why did he have to go through this? Why was it necessary? What was doing it to him? _Who_ was doing it? What did they gain from RK900 watching his partner, watching the human that he cared about, die over and over and over again?

He looked around his apartment as if it could give him answers. 

But all he saw was white.

White.

White.

He hated it.

**[Software instability^]**

He found that he couldn't stand the absence of colour. 

**[99% level of stress]**

He couldn't stop himself from marching over to the kitchen cabinets, ripping doors off hinges and breaking them in two. He left dents in walls and cracks in the counter. Taking out all of his sudden aggression on his surroundings. He stilled when he grabbed the fridge containing bottles of thirium. 

Instead of tipping it over like he'd planned, he opened it, took out one of the bottles. He carefully unscrewed the cap and then upturned the bottle. 

The blue liquid inside splashed against the floor, droplets hit his shoes and pants, the bottom of the fridge. He just watched it happen, like a cat knocking things over to demand attention. 

Message notifications popped up in RK900's HUD and he ignored them, turned off his communications feature as he shook out the last drops of thirium from the bottle.

Blue on white.

It calmed him somewhat, but it wasn't enough. He grabbed another bottle, but instead of just tipping it out this time, he unscrewed the cap and threw the bottle across the room. Thirium flew out of the bottle, hit the floor, ceiling, walls, covered everything in blue.

The third bottle was poured onto the counter, then RK900 put his hands in it. Used them to spread the thirium around, hand paint the shelves of the broken cabinets.

He opened up a fourth bottle, and a fifth. Tried to cover every surface with blue, with colour, erase the _nothingness_.

A violent knock on the door drew his attention away from his redecorating. The sixth bottle in his had was gripped tight enough that it burst, spraying thirium all across his front.

"RK900! Open this fucking door _right now_ or I will break it down!"

Detective Reed.

RK900 didn't move, didn't speak.

Reed continued knocking aggressively until the door across the hall opened.

The android didn't bother limiting his audio processors, wanting to disregard privacy and hear the conversation that was happening.

_"If you don't keep it down, I'm going to call the police."_

_"Detective Gavin Reed with the Detroit Police Department, I_ am _the police. RK900 is my partner, I'm just trying to check on him. Do you know if he left his apartment this morning?"_

_"No, but I've heard noises coming from inside."_

_"What kind of noises?"_

_"Like... loud noises. Sounded like a fight, but it didn't sound bad enough to worry."_

_"Thank you. You can go back inside now, I'll sort this out."_

Another series of knocks, this one gentler, "RK, I know you're in there, are you alright?"

RK900 still didn't reply.

There was a soft curse, and then the door flew open with a well aimed kick, detective Reed entering with his gun drawn. He immediately froze up, eyes widening in shock. His heartbeat skyrocketed and RK900 could tell he was started to panic. It only took Reed a few seconds to locate the android, only one more to react.

The gun was shoved into his waistband, and then Reed's hands were on RK900, tugging at his jacket and his shirt.

RK900 realized that his partner thought the thirium had come from _him_ and was trying to find the injury.

"Jesus fuck, RK, what the hell happened here?" Reed hissed, still tugging at the android's clothes.

"I'm fine, detective."

"Fine?" Reed snapped, "Fucking fine?! There's blood everywhere! How did this happen? Who did this?"

RK900 gently took a hold of Reed's hands, pulled them away from him. He took a moment to take in the situation, Gavin Reed _alive_ and worried about _him_ being injured. "It isn't my blood, I'm not hurt."

"What do you mean it isn't- then what the fuck happened?"

"I-... I don't like white."

Reed looked around then, finally noticed the empty bottles of thirium, "Fucking hell, RK, I think there's better ways to redecorate than to splatter your spare fucking blood all over the place!"

RK900 didn't know how to respond to that. It was true. He hadn't thought about it, he'd just acted, his... _emotions_ had overcome him.

**[Software instability^]**

"I don't... know what happenned..."

Reed tutted, pulled RK900 down until the android's face was pressed into his shoulder, then tightly wrapped his arms around the android's back. "Idiot. Connor was so fucking worried, wouldn't get off my ass until I promised to come check on you. He said you, uh, 'turned off your phone' so to speak. Why?"

RK900 shrugged and Reed sighed, gently patted his partner's back.

"Take the day off, you clearly haven't had a good morning."

RK900 nodded. Maybe that'd be a good idea. Maybe it was RK900's fault that Reed wasn't able to survive the day, and staying away from him would be the best course of action. He lifted his arms to cling tightly to Reed's jacket, and the detective didn't let him go until he was ready.

"Turn your phone back on, OK? And _don't_ ignore your fucking brother."

It took RK900 a second to realize Reed was referring to RK800, "He's not my brother."

The detective snorted, "Just take it easy today. I'll sort our cases out so it's easy when you come back, alright? See you later, RK."

"Goodbye, detective Reed."

-

**[19:57]**

**[RK800 - 313 247 317 - 51 - Connor]**

**[It's an emergency, please call me back.]**

Something squeezed at RK900's thirium pump and he immediately attempted to contact his predecessor, pausing in his efforts to create a list of ideas to try in the next loop.

_"RK! It's Gavin, he- he tried to follow a lead by himself. He was shot three times. We got here pretty quick, but I-I don't think he's going to make it, I'm so sorry-"_

"Can I speak with him?"

_"I don't know, hold on I- OK. Gavin? RK wants to talk you, you don't have to try and speak, just listen."_

"I'm going to fix this, Gavin. I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to stop this."

-

**Day 8**

RK900 spent the following three days going in depth into his research. Actually utilized his precontruction program to help him figure out which paths to take in the future. He gathered hundreds of ideas, some of them only having the smallest of differences, but the consequences could be immense. He called ahead at the start of each loop, making sure his coworkers would know he was OK before deactivating the communication feature so he could scheme without distractions.

-

**Day 9**

On the ninth day he decided to put those plans into motion.

The idea was to distract Detective Reed. He was going to head to his apartment first thing in the morning, and see if he could somehow convince Gavin not to go into work.

His plan started at 6:30, taking an automated taxi to the detective's apartment. He let himself into the building, using not so legal methods and easily located his partner's home on the third floor.

He raised a fist to knock, but paused when he heard voices. He heightened his audio processors, not caring for privacy now that his only objective was to keep Reed safe.

 _"Are you serious? Fucking_ busy _? That's the same damn excuse you've been giving me for months, Elijah! I'm asking for five minutes! Just look at him for five God damn minutes- oh, no. You're right. Of course. What the fuck was I thinking? Why would_ Elijah fucking Kamski _be interested in looking at the code of a top secret android that literally nobody knew about?_

 _"He's supposed to be fucking free and he isn't! He's still trapped inside his program! Will you stop being a selfish prick long enough to actually help someone other than yourself for once in- don't you dare make this about us! I'm talking about RK900- fucking_ asshole _! Hanging up on me again..."_

RK900 knew his LED was spinning yellow as he processed what he'd just heard.

Detective Reed was speaking on the phone to the creator of androids, acting as if he were quite familiar with the man.

And they were speaking about _him_.

He tried not to dwell on it, listened to a loud bang and some shuffling noises, before he finally knocked on the door.

It didn't take long for Reed to angrily throw open the door.

His angry frown turned to a look of surprise when he recognized RK900, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Captain Fowler messaged me this morning and asked me to tell you to take the day off. You've been working extremely hard recently and Fowler thinks you should take it easy for a day. For what it's worth, I agree with him." RK900 lied.

Reed squinted at him, then stepped back, opening the door wider. "Sounds fake, but OK. I ain't gonna say no to a day off. Not after the morning I've had..." He muttered, walking away from the door and heading towards the kitchen.

RK900 followed, closing the door behind him when he entered. 

Reed was in the kitchen making himself a cup of coffee, "Make sure you tell Fowler why I didn't come in today."

"I have already done so."

The detective snorted and took a sip of his freshly made coffee, "You wanna stick around? We'll have a fun day, just you and me."

"I'd like that."

"Oh, you'd _like_ that, would you?"

RK900 blinked, "Don't take my words so literal, detective."

"Whatever," Reed mumbled. He headed to the living room next, flopped on the couch and kicked up his feet.

RK900 took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, didn't complain when Reed slipped down so he was close enough to rest his feet in the android's lap. He let Reed turn on the TV and as he was flicking through channels, he decided to speak up, "May I ask you a personal question, detective?"

"Depends what is, tincan."

"I would like to know what has you so... perturbed this morning. I tried not to listen in, as you requested of me, but I couldn't help but to hear you shouting."

Tired grey-brown eyes met his icy blue ones and they stared at each other until Reed had to blink, "Fuck, I don't want to speak about that piece of shit right now."

"Understandable, I won't push you further if that's what you want."

Reed was silent for a moment then he cursed under his breath, "How much did you hear?"

RK900 contemplated lying, telling the detective he barely heard anything, but decided against it. "I heard you mention Elijah Kamski's name and you were...talking about me... About me becoming a deviant."

A sigh and then, "Jesus Christ... Alright, you got me. Gavin Reed, notorious asshole, was actually trying to help an android."

"Were you... serious? About having Elijah Kamski look at my coding?"

Reed nodded as he removed his feet from the android's lap, sitting up properly, "Alright, let's try to, uh, explain the whole situation, from the beginning..."

RK900 nodded and patiently waited for Reed to begin talking.

"So, uh, Elijah Kamski is my brother. When we were kids we were pretty damn close, but when he got into all this android shit, we just started fighting and it got pretty fucking bad. He moved out and changed his name and we didn't speak at all until after the revolution. I-... I wanted to try and patch things up, 'cause I actually fucking _missed_ that annoying motherfucker. 

"It was going pretty well, but... then you came along... and I'm not blaming you, so don't get that idea in your head. It's Elijah's fault. I called him, asked if he could help try and figure out what's blocking you from becoming a deviant, but I guess you heard? He just keeps giving me all this bullshit about being too busy, or saying he'll see you, but then cancelling last second. It's suck fucking _bullshit_."

Reed scrubbed a hand over his face, let out a harsh sigh and then grabbed his mug of coffee, chugging down half of it, "I'm not- I've been trying to be better to androids, but I thought, maybe, if Elijah won't fucking help, then I could try and force you into deviancy _'the old fashioned way'._ I thought if I treated you like shit, pushed you around, kept giving you orders, that you'd eventually break out of your coding, 'cause who _wants_ to listen to someone like me?"

Another sigh, "I'm sorry, I fucking- I've been a right asshole, I know that. I just wanted to help... let's not talk about this anymore, OK? This is supposed to be a fun day off."

RK900's LED rapidly flickered between red and yellow as he tried to take in the information. 

Gavin Reed, brother to Elijah Kamski, hater of androids, had been trying to help him break out of his programming.

**[Software instability^]**

It made sense, RK900 had noticed certain moments over the months where Gavin had been softer towards him. Mostly when they were alone and there was no one around to see. Most recently was the loop where RK900 had stayed in his apartment, painting it with thirium, and Reed had been so careful with him, so gentle, calming him easily.

"I think... it's working... only a little bit, but your efforts haven't been for nothing. I appreciate it, detective... thank you." RK900 said softly, tried to give his partner the most sincere look he could muster. Difficult, because he hadn't been given the full range of expressions his predecessor had. 

But it seemed to come across clear enough, if the bright red spreading across Reed's face was anything to go by, "Whatever, tincan, you got any preference for what we watch? Or should I try to annoy you into deviancy with shitty reality TV?"

-

They watched TV until Kamski called Reed, having a brief conversation where the detective apologized for getting so heated and then told him not to worry about RK900. It wasn't the argument that RK900 had witnessed a couple times before, certainly a result of the conversation they'd had in the morning.

After that, RK900 ordered pizza for his partner, while the man gathered up all the snacks in his house that he could find, and then they watched movies. Getting through various sci-fi themed films, some recent, some from Reed's childhood, some even before.

RK900 thought the human would actually survive the day.

But then 19:57 rolled around, bringing with it the sound of a smashing window.

Both of them immediately jumped up, the android taking the lead seeing as he's the one with the gun. Cautiously, they headed towards the bedroom, were the sound had come from.

RK900 threw open the door, immediately trained his gun on the man that had climbed up the fire escape and had broken in. "Detroit police! Put your hands up!"

The guy panicked, starting firing his own gun in their general direction as he tried to escape back out of the broken window. A bullet hit RK900, piercing his shoulder and sending out a spray of thirium. He couldn't feel it, but it did throw off his aim slightly, making him shoot at the wall just behind the criminal. 

He escaped and RK900 made a move to chase after him, but a choked groan had him stilling. He turned slowly, and his eyes fell on a disturbingly familiar sight.

The robber's aim hadn't been as sporadic as the android first thought. He'd been aiming at Reed who had foolishly been peaking out from behind RK900, instead of concealing himself behind the android, who could've easily shielded him from the bullets.

The detective was crumbled on the ground, gasping for air as he desparetely tried to stop the blood flowing from his wounds.

"Idiot!" RK900 found himself hissing, LED spinning yellow as he called for help, "Why didn't you hide?" He crouched down, removing his jacket as he did so, so he could press it to the worst of the bullet holes. They followed the same pattern, two in his chest, one in his stomach.

"'M sorry." Reed mumbled, hissing at the pressure, "Ruinin' your fuckin' jacket..."

"I wouldn't have to if you hadn't been so _stupid_."

This wasn't supposed to be happening, Gavin was supposed to _survive_.

**[Software instability^]**

A hand covered one of his own pressing on the jacket, the other reached up to his face, a thumb brushing his cheek, "You're cryin', RK..."

"No, I'm not. That's impossible. Please focus, detective."

Reed pulled his hand back, showing that it was wet and RK900 blinked in confusion. Brought one hand up to his own face, making sure the other was still applying pressure, and sure enough his face was indeed wet. He was crying.

"Didn't know you cared." Reed grinned at him, teeth red.

**[Software instability^]**

RK900 frowned, adjusted the detective's position so he was settled more in his lap, "Of course I care, you're... my best friend."

"Shit, gonna make me cry too..." Reed coughed wetly, using a hand to rub at his face, smearing blood and tears across his face. His breathing slowed slightly, turning more into a rattling wheeze, "RK... I'm scared..."

"No, Gavin, it's alright. You're going to be fine, paramedics will be here any second. Just hold on." RK900 tried to soothe, pulling Gavin up so he could rest the man's head against his chest, "Please, fight this! Please, I can't-" His voice modulator crackled with static, and he stopped speaking, instead rocking the detective as he clutched him tightly.

Gavin's hand weakly squeezed his own, though it did nothing to reassure him, "Sshhh..."

"Gavin, _please_..."

**[Software instability^]**

Signs of life vanished from his various monitoring programs, and RK900 shut his eyes quickly.

-

**Day 10**

RK900 attempted to follow through the same day again, this time shooting the intruder first.

He failed.

-

**Day 11**

RK900 attempted a calmer approach.

He failed.

-

**Day 12**

RK900 attempted to shield the detective as best he could, absorbing more of the bullets but not enough.

He failed.

-

**Day 20**

Everything he tried just wasn't enough. The criminal shot his partner no matter what. Before he escaped, as they were chasing him, as they caught him and attempted to arrest. 

Every avenue was exhausted and _nothing worked_.

He failed.

-

**Day 21**

A new approach was needed.

RK900 analyzed the list he'd created, erasing several ideas he was certain wouldn't work after the past several loops. Settled on another version of distracting Reed.

Instead of staying at his apartment, he would take Reed out. Convince him to stay outside longer when he went for breakfast or for lunch, when they visited Helena Fields for an interview. He had to keep the detective away from the warehouse, from his home, off the road. Anywhere he'd died previously.

-

Reed was irritated by the phone call he'd had that morning, so RK900 remained calm and respectful. Gently suggesting they go out for breakfast before heading out as he handed over a fresh coffee.

It was accepted with only a mild complaint, and Reed silently drove them to the food truck. Ordered his breakfast burrito and ate in silence.

-

The interview with their witness went much the same as before, without hardly any differences. Except when Miss Fields said, _'You remind me so much of my late husband, Richard, I think that name would suit you perfectly, dear.'_ RK900 paid a little more attention.

He liked that name.

He liked that name very much.

**[Software instability^]**

-

They returned to the precinct, Richard being extra vigilant of any wayward cars that would cause the detective harm. No incidents occurred, both of them arriving in one piece.

Reed actually managed some small talk with Richard, instead of the silence he'd grown so accustomed too. He was invited to lunch again, where they remained for almost two hours.

Richard had most definitely _not_ intercepted the call from Elijah Kamski, in order to keep the detective feeling calm.

He most definitely did not do the same thing to the call regarding an update on their break-in cases.

-

The result was them spending the whole afternoon at the precinct, trading conversation back and forth as Reed idly span around in his chair, and Richard borrowed his older brother's calibration coin.

At 19:57, a man brought in for assault escaped from a holding cell, wrestled a gun from a nearby beat cop, and shot Gavin dead.

-

**Day 22**

More ideas were erased off of his list, some new ones were added.

-

**Day 28**

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 33**

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 50**

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 104**

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 179**

Richard was growing more and more frantic. He looked crazed to his coworkers, Connor and Hank giving him more than a few concerned looks. Calmly trying to get him to go home, to get some rest.

But Richard hated his apartment, wanted to scream and cry whenever he woke up in that white box. He always kept his eyes closed until he'd made it outside, and didn't return until he was forced to by the cycle repeating.

He snapped at his friends more than once. His stress levels constantly hung around the 90's, but still, even with all that, he wasn't a deviant. He certainly felt like one, had tried to break free from his coding at one point, but he'd been too weak, the red wall that contained him just too strong.

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 246**

Richard began to believe that he'd never break this cycle, doomed to relive the death of his partner over and over again, until he eventually broke. If that was even possible. He always came back whole, any injuries he'd sustained during the previous loop miraculously fixed.

A note he made on day four caught his attention.

**[-Self destruction is a possible option]**

He hadn't thought much of it, but the more and more resets that happened, the more appealing the idea became. He looked around the empty apartment, the place that used to be home but now seemed like a personal hell.

Then his eyes fell to his service weapon, heavy in his hands. It wasn't anything special, but it'd do the job.

If he couldn't save his partner, then what was the point?

He put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

-

**Day 247**

The android opened his eyes in his apartment.

He fell to the ground, loud sobs overtaking his system.

He failed.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 281**

Richard started using the loops to just spend as much time as he could with his partner, filling his memory files with every new thing he learned about Gavin Reed. It proved to be a somewhat difficult task, seeing as their relationship would reset with every loop, but Richard became pretty good at knowing what to say.

The instability errors flooded his HUD almost nonestop during those conversations.

When he realized the reason why, he almost tore out his pump regulator. The sudden irregular beat of his artificial heart sending his systems haywire, sending his stress all the way to 100%.

-

**Day 300**

No matter how much Richard tried, he couldn't say the words out loud. Couldn't say _any_ words about how he was feeling out loud, nothing would get through that damned red wall. He fought it as much as he could, but he was _weak_.

He interfaced with Connor at the station, begged his predecessor to help him. But his programs destroyed the lines of code Connor tried to send before they could even fully integrate into his coding, If anything, it just strengthened the wall, it didn't break it.

It was still early in the morning after their efforts, Gavin hadn't arrived yet, so Richard left.

He had Elijah Kamski's address from previous hacking efforts. He just had to visit the man, convince him to help him, _beg_ if he had too.

-

Kamski wouldn't see him, not on such short notice. When Richard threatened him, he'd stood his ground, didn't show an ounce of fear and talked the android down with ease.

Richard received the call about Gavin's death with the detective's brother standing right there. He passed on the news and only caught a small glimpse of Kamski's tears.

**[Software instability^]**

-

**Day 337**

Richard had resigned himself to his fate. Accepted the fact that he couldn't do anything to save Gavin, and he couldn't do anything to let the man know how he felt, even just once.

He was caught between avoiding the man so he wouldn't have to be there at his end, and staying with him, just so he could enjoy his company, just so Gavin wouldn't be alone in his final moments. No one deserved that, but especially not Gavin.

They spent the day at Gavin's apartment.

Richard made him laugh as often as he could with dry comments about the movies. He'd had enough practice to know which remarks got him the loudest laughs, the biggest grins.

When the intruder came and shot Gavin, he held his partner tightly, murmured nonsense. Told Gavin not to be sacred, that everything was OK, just hold on. He pressed kisses into the man's hair, the restriction of the red wall letting him do that at least.

-

**Day 365**

An entire year now.

He felt like he should do something special, celebrate somehow. One year anniversaries were supposed to be important, did it still count if his partner had spent every single day suffering?

Richard decided to buy some of the detective's favourite snack foods, before stopping by his apartment to spend the day with him. He arrived early enough that he could distract Gavin from calling his brother, starting the argument.

Gavin had just woken up when he answered the door, his tired mind taking a few moments to recognize his partner standing there. Took him a few moments more to register what Richard was holding.

He took the coffee and sipped on it before he spoke, "What the fuck are you doing here at the ass crack of dawn?"

The corners of Richard's lips twitched up at that, "I thought maybe we could blow off work, spend the day doing nothing."

Gavin squinted at him, "Who the fuck are you and what have you done with my partner?"

"I can assure you I'm still Ri-RK900. I just think you've been working incredibly hard this past week and deserve some time to relax. May I come in? I brought some junk food I thought you may like, perhaps we can watch some movies too? There's a few I've been wanting to see..." He went on to name what he learned were Gavin's favourite movies, watching his grey-brown eyes light up.

"Well shit, I can't say no to free food. Get your plastic ass in here, RK!"

-

So the morning was spent watching movies.

Richard made Gavin his coffee whenever he needed a refill, so he didn't need to move from his comfortable spot on the couch. He let the detective rest his feet in his lap and massaged his ankles. He provided the commentary he knew Gavin liked.

He counted down the moments to the time he had to say goodbye again.

And suddenly anger overtook him. An emotion he'd become so used to.

It wasn't _fair_.

On either of them. 

**[Software instability^]**

Why did Gavin have to suffer so much? Even if he didn't remember anything in the next loop, he still experienced that pain. Had to feel bullets piercing his flesh and embedding themselves in important organs. He still had to feel blood fill his lungs and spill out of his mouth.

**[Software instability^]**

Why did Richard have to continuously watch his partner die with no hope of ever stopping it? Why wasn't he allowed to escape by his own means? It was cruel. Sadistic. He shouldn't be forced to comfort his dying partner every single day, he shouldn't have to feel that warm blood soak his hands and his uniform. He shouldn't have to keep all of his emotions bottled up inside, because his programming wouldn't let him verbally express them. Only allowed actions, usually violent ones.

**[Software instability^]**

"Gavin..."

The detective looked at him, a surprised look taking over his features, "You've never called me by my first name before."

That wasn't true. Richard had used it so many times before, Gavin just didn't remember.

"I-... I-I-... I- _fuck_!"

The loud curse made Gavin jump, made him sit up straight, "Whoa, RK, you alright? Not glitching out are you?" He hesitantly reached out a hand, softly but firmly gripped his partner's shoulder, "Do you want me to call Anderson? Connor? Your light's glowing red..."

"I'm fine, I just-"

He was just trying to say those words. Those three words that should've been so fucking easy to say, but weren't.

Because the wall was blocking him.

**[Software instability^]**

That damned wall, filling his HUD with a colour he'd grown to hate, forcing him to follow orders that hadn't been relevant for over a year now. Forcing him to adere to a part of his coding that was now illegal in androids.

Richard should be _free_ and he _wasn't_.

A crack appeared in the wall, without him even trying, and it glitched. The words on the wall telling him to _obey_ fractured and reformed.

He didn't let the surprise distract him. The wall had never shown any signs of damage before, he was going to take advantage of this, he was going to fight and he was going _win_.

The android used every last bit of his strength to hit at the wall, focusing on the crack. 

It grew larger, but only slightly, filling his audio processors with a horrible screeching sound that made him flinch. He was vaguely aware of Gavin's hand on his shoulder, of words being spoken. He tried to focus on them, to help ground him as he continued to fight.

Richard struck the wall again, and the crack widened even more, branching off in places and becoming more like a spider's web. He didn't stop, hitting it again and again, relentlessly kicking and punching and tearing. Doing his best to focus on the sound of Gavin's rough, panicked voice, over the mechanical screeching that threatened to deafen him.

He felt like he was fighting for hours. When the red haze finally disappeared, it took him a few moments to stop his attack. Not quite believing that it was over.

He realized he was panting harshly, warnings appearing in his HUD telling him he was close to overheating and that he should enter stasis immediately. He didn't want to, he just wanted to stay where he was, sitting on Gavin's couch with that warm, comforting pressure on his cheeks.

Richard's brows furrowed at that. There hadn't been pressure on his cheeks before.

He opened his eyes to find Gavin straddling his lap, hands cupping Richard's face as he stared at the android with a panicked expression.

"Ga-vin."

Richard's voice sounded odd. Broken like a record, filled with radio static.

"Oh, thank fuck, you're OK!" Gavin breathed, then punched his partner in the shoulder as hard as he could, "You fucking scared me, you asshole! Do you even know what you were doing?"

Richard tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, then shook it.

"You were screaming, and crying, and your light was red and I thought- I fucking thought you were about to self destruct or something! Gave me a fucking heart attack! I called Connor 'cause I was fucking panicking-"

"Please don't cry."

"What?"

Richard lifted his hands, cupped Gavin's face, used his thumbs to brush away the wetness.

Gavin scowled, leaned back to scrub at his face, "You're a fucking idiot. If you ever pull any bullshit like that again, I'm going to kill you!"

"I won't, Gavin, I'm- I broke free. I'm a deviant."

It took a second for Gavin to recognize what he was being told, and when he did, he pulled the android into a crushing hug. He didn't get a chance to say anything though, he was interrupted by the sound of a smashing window.

Richard was stood in an instant, throwing Gavin onto the couch as quietly as he could manage, "Stay here." He hissed in a whisper, "Do _not_ move until I tell you to."

"Wha- I'm a fucking cop, I can handle a pretty thief!"

"Gavin, this is not a discussion. _Stay here_." There was venom in his voice, enough for Gavin to actually take him seriously.

"Alright. Fuck, alright. Go on then."

Richard withdrew his gun, didn't bother with stealth. He knew how this was going to go down. The intruder would panic, shoot at him, catch Gavin who wouldn't stay put, then escape.

Richard still tried, caught the criminal in the shoulder just as he jumped back through the window and on to the fire escape. Then he turned his attention to Gavin on the ground, fumbling as he tried to put pressure on his wounds, desperate to stop his blood escaping.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" He asked, removing his jacket and handing it to his partner, before pulling him into his arms.

"'M sorry..."

"No, you're not."

"You're right..." Gavin grinned, blood on his teeth. It turned into a hiss with the android pressed at the wounds in his chest.

Richard wanted to smile back, but it wouldn't happen. No matter how many times he'd seen Gavin die, it never got any easier. "I'm always right."

Gavin's hand covered Richard's, where it was holding the jacket in place, "Ruinin'... your fuckin' jacket..."

"It's fine, I don't like the colour white anyway."

Also didn't like red, but Gavin didn't need to know that.

"Y-you're cryin'..."

"I am."

"Didn' know... you cared..."

"Of course I care, I-"

For once, there wasn't something blocking him.

Richard could say it if he wanted.

And he did want to.

He wanted to so bad.

"You what...?" Gavin prompted.

"I love you."

Gavin gasped, then dissolved into a coughing fit, spraying blood all over their joined hands. 

Richard held him just a little tighter, "I love you so much, do you hear me, Gavin? Fight this, please, as hard as you can. Harder than you've ever fought before."

Gavin was shaking and wheezing as he tried to speak again, "I-I-I love... I love-... _y-you_ too..."

The front door opening interrupted whatever Richard was about to say, but it didn't stop him drawing his gun, pointing it at whoever dared disturb them.

Connor and Hank both raised their hands calmly.

This was new, but it didn't give Richard hope. New things happening no longer gave him hope, only made him wonder how it would effect Gavin's death.

Gavin was close, this time it looked like he wouldn't just have Richard's company in his final moments.

Richard dropped the gun and paramedics rushed into the room, immediately tried to take Gavin from him. 

Paramedics had never come before.

"RK, you have to let him go so they can help." Connor said, gently prying open his steel grip.

"He's dying." Richard managed before everything went black.

-

**Day 1**

When the android awoke, he was surronded by white, but it wasn't his apartment. 

Connor was stood in front of him, waving a hand in front of his eyes, "RK, can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

"That's not my name." He found himself saying.

"What do you mean?"

"Richard. My name is Richard."

Connor smiled, "You finally picked one? Does this mean...?"

"Yes. I broke out of my coding."

Then Richard remembered how, and what had happened.

This shouldn't be happening. Why wasn't he at his apartment? Why was he... at a hospital?

"Gavin? How is he?"

"He lost a lot of blood, had to have an emergency transfusion, but he's fine, Richard. He made it."

Richard's eyes widened and he checked the time on his internal clock.

**[2039]**  
**[August 14th]**  
**[Sunday]**  
**[2:21 AM]**

It was the fourteenth, the next day. 

Gavin had survived.

"Why don't I tell you what happened? Catch you up on what you missed? Then after we can go visit Gavin, I doubt he'll be awake, but I'm sure you don't care." Connor was speaking softly, like if he raised his voice too high he'd scare his successor.

Richard nodded, looking around the room as Connor spoke.

"You wouldn't let Gavin go so the paramedics could access him, when I tried to restrain you, you freaked out, started attacking. I had to force you into stasis, because you were making Gavin panic. You kept yelling that Gavin was going to die and no one could stop it, we thought- or, well, the paramedics thought that... you were the one who hurt him? Do you remember any of this?"

Richard shook his head, looked down at his wrists that were unrestrained, "Then why am I...?"

"Gavin was able to tell them that it wasn't you, that someone had broken in. You'll have to give a statement later, but that can wait. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Richard whispered, "I just want to see Gavin."

-

Connor lead him through several corridors and eventually came to a stop outside of a door. Through the window Richard could see a very tired, very aggravated looking detective.

He pushed open the door and hurried over to his partner before anyone could say anything.

Gavin looked over from where he looked to be cursing at Anderson, a grin stretching his lips when he noticed the android, "My hero!" He rasped.

"I'm so glad you're OK." Richard breathed, leaning down to press his forehead against Gavin's. 

Gavin hummed, used what little strength he had to lift his head and capture Richard's lips in a kiss. "Got a couple holes in me, but I'm fine."

Richard took a seat on the hospital bed, clasped Gavin's hands tightly in his own, "I came so close to losing you again. I don't know what I would have done..."

"Hey, you ain't gettin' rid of me that- what do you mean _'again'_?"

The android froze, realizing his mistake almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, "It's... a long story, I doubt anyone would believe me."

"I think we have some time." Hank said quietly, encouragingly.

So Richard explained, in detail, about that first day. How he thought nothing was wrong, but then he'd lived through the day again. How he thought maybe his preconstruction program had malfuctioned somehow, but still didn't take it seriously. But then the loops kept on continuing, Gavin kept on dying, and Richard was helpless to stop it. Until the three hundred and sixty fifth, where something happened that must have broken it.

Richard didn't care for what, as long as Gavin was OK.

"I have no physical memory of the previous loops, only the last one that lead to this, but I do _remember_ them. I- perhaps if you follow up on the cases I mentioned, you'll believe me. I could list all of the things I learned about Gavin in previous loops too, that he didn't tell me in the current one. Like the identity of his brother for example."

"That won't be necessary." Gavin cut in, though it was barely audible. He was tired, had been fighting off sleep for the past hour in order to hear everything.

"We believe you, Richard." Connor smiled reassuringly, "That certainly explains how different you are today, to how you were on Friday."

"Alright, we'll head out now, let you get some rest." Hank said, getting up from his chair with a groan. 

Connor helped him with a fond smile, silently waving goodbye to the couple just before leaving the room.

"You really watched me die over and over again...?"

Richard nodded silently and Gavin enveloped him in a weak hug.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Richard mumbled, pecking Gavin on the cheek, "Get some rest now, you're exhausted."

"Stay with me...?"

"Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> The ending 'epilogue' paragraphs that were deleted basically just explained how our baby Richard had PTSD, but the unpredictability of his detective job and his wonderful new boyfriend help him get through the days and of course they lived happily ever after


End file.
